Iron and Wood
by Haruko-Mizumi
Summary: The end of the movie from San's point of view. Mentioned AshitakaxSan. One shot. Part of my slow moving series about the Miyazaki heriones.


A/N: I present my first Princess Mononoke fan fiction (and it'll probably be the last)! Another installment in my (slowing moving) series about the endings of the Hayao Miyazaki films through the heroines eyes.

Forgive me if some of the dialogue isn't exact to the movie, and forgive me for adding a few lines that weren't in the movie at all.

**Disclaimer: **Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibi own Princess Mononoke, not I.

**Iron and Wood**

I was full of white hot rage, untamed, wild, but I knew I could not turn into a demon because of what I was.

It was all directed at them, the damned humans, ever single one; Ashitaka, that damned Eboshi woman, those guards, the ones I'd fought and killed in the battle with the boars, every man, woman and child.

Ashitaka was approaching me, calm as ever, which increased my fury and I ripped the crystal dagger he had given me from around my neck. "San."

"NO!" I roared, my face contorting with anger. "You did this! You blasted humans!"

Ashitaka gaped at me. "Yes, San, I'm human but… so are you."

"NO! I'm a wolf, you hear me!"

Ashitaka's gentle gaze drilled into me, seeming to burn me. He said my name, reached out to me, and in a fit of uncontained anger, I screamed; "NO!" and stabbed the dagger into his chest with as much strength as I could muster, which resulted in a dull thud and Ashitaka tensing in pain momentarily.

Shame and guilt instantly took the place of my fury and I looked at him sadly.

He hugged me to him tightly and I held my tears in check.

"It's over, it's all over. The Forest Spirit is dead." I said and he crushed me closer and I closed my eyes, feeling defeated but safe in Ashitaka's arms. If I was to die, I would rather it be here, in the embrace of the man, of the human, I had come to love.

He pushed me away, keeping his strong hands on my shoulders and gazing into my eyes. "It's not over, not as long as the two of us are still alive. We can return the Forest Spirit's head to him." He looked at me more intently than ever. "Now, will you help us?"

I hesitated for a moment before setting my face in determination. "Yes."

"First, I want to warn Iron Town."

I at first wanted to tell him to leave them, that they deserved to die but knew that this was not the time for arguments, so I nodded. I whistled and my wolf brothers came, but they did not climb into the Forest Spirit's island. "We are going to return the Forest Spirit's head, but first we are going to warn Iron Town. One of you must let Ashitaka ride you."

"I will carry him." The older of my brothers said, "I brought him here and do not mind his weight and smell."

Ashitaka and I mounted my brothers and rode of, leaving the Ebosi woman her thuggish guard to whatever their fate would be.

* * *

The people at Iron Town were glad to see Ashitaka alive, and agreed to follow his instructions to go into the river.

As we rode away, I saw many people get caught in the black ooze and then go limp, floating motionless in the slime. Even thought I hated humans, my heart twanged slightly over seeing their deaths, but I did my best to ignore it.

We found them quickly, the stupid, fat little monk and three other men, surrounded by the life sucking goo, still trying desperately to get away with the head.

Ashitaka and I leapt off my brothers backs and they obeyed when I shouted at them to leave and find shelter. We stood in front of the group, barring their path, staring hard at them.

"We must give the head back!" Ashitaka cried, throwing out his arms.

"Listen, it's almost dawn! When the sun rises, he'll disappear and this'll all be nothing but a bad dream." The monk (what was his name? Jigo, I think) said, that cursed grin on his face.

Ashitaka did not back down or even move.

"Look, everyone wants everything, that's the way the world works, but I might actually get it!" Jigo exclaimed, sounding excited by the thought of a reward from the devil who held the title of Emperor.

"That is no excuse!" Ashitaka shouted, and I took a step forward, clutching the hilt of my dagger.

"Well, you're forgetting one thing, and that is-" The monk jumped up with incredible speed and tried to attack Ashitaka, but he defended well.

Another man foolishly attacked me and I fought back, kicking his face, but holding back from using my dagger to kill.

One of the Forest Spirit's searching hands came down almost on top of us, killing one man and the other ran for his life, leaving the metal barrel with the head in it to roll swiftly down the hill.

Ashitaka called out to me, and I sprinted after it, but the little monk got there first, but because he was so small, he was sent tumbling with it when it hit him, stopping after he crashed into a rock, the barrel in his hands.

Ashitaka, the other man and I raced onto the large rock where the monk was crying like a fool for the dawn to come.

"We have to give it back! Only human hands can return it." Ashitaka said.

The monk hesitated and then sighed. "Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you." He stood, and removed the metal bar that was holding the barrel closed.

A thick green liquid began to spill out as Ashitaka and I reached in, pulled the head out, and held it above our heads. As the liquid dripped on us, demon curse marks spread all over both of our bodies, and I gasped in fear.

"Forest Spirit!" Ashitaka shouted at the top of his lungs, calm as ever. "We give you back your head!

The great body of the headless spirit stopped and then moved towards us, bending so that it's neck would fall over us.

Ashitaka put an arm around my waist and pressed me close to him.

I so desperately wanted to say something to him, but in my awe and fear, the words would not reach my throat. I simply looked up, wondering, but not fearing, what would become of us.

The Forest Spirit fell to meet us and there was a blinding blast of golden light and a ripping wind about us.

I tired to stay conscious, but I finally had to give into the blackness creeping up on me from all around.

* * *

"San. San." The gentle voice lulled me out of sleep, my eyes fluttering open.

I saw a vast blue sky, spotted with pure white clouds and a soft wind was brushing over my skin. I turned my head toward Ashitaka, and he helped me to my feet.

We stated out at rolling green hills, covered in flowers and smelling of spring, hills that had been barren only hours before. Even in the beauty of it all, my heart ached over the fate of the Forest Spirit.

"It's all over, the Forest Spirit is dead." I said sadly.

"Never." Ashitaka replied, turning his gaze to me. "He's here right now, trying to tell us something."

There was another minute of peaceful silence, just taking in the beauty before us, before my brothers arrived and found us, both very glad to see me safe. I'm not sure how they felt about Ashitaka, but, I hoped, that they would be happy to see him, if anything because they knew how much I cared for him.

I mounted my older brother but stayed a moment to speak with Ashitaka. "Ashitaka, you mean so much to me, but I can't forgive the humans for what they're done."

"I understand, you'll live in the forest and I'll help rebuild Iron Town." He smiled warmly at me, a smile that reached his dark eyes. "I'll come see you whenever I can."

I smiled back sadly, but sincerely, and nodded. After another brief moment, I turned away and departed.

A strange thought came to me as I rode; maybe iron and wood could, someday, live exist in harmony. If that day was to come, I thought, I should like to be there to see it.

**The End**

A/N: Kind of a short piece I worked on when I got bored in math lab at my college, I think it turned out all right, but not as well as I'd liked. Of course, you're thoughts are what are important, so please leave them. Be kind about it please.

No Christmas story this year, just this. XD Merry Christmas!


End file.
